refugee, IDP, evacuee

[Dave Wilton]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
> Of Alice Faber
> Sent: Monday, September 05, 2005 6:20 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: refugee, IDP, evacuee
>
> Or sensitive to some connotations of the word that have nothing to do
> with its etymological history. I've seen enough statements now from
> people who think that use of the word "refugee" connotes "not-American",
> and I think that it's disrespectful, given how marginalized many of the
> folks who were most affected by the storm already feel.

And objectionable to those who don't want to face the fact that many of the
policies of the US government since the 1980s have created a class of people
in the US who are living in Third World conditions.

"Somewhere, somehow somebody
Must have kicked you around some
Tell me why you wanna lay there
And revel in your abandon
Listen it don't make no difference to me baby
Everybody's had to fight to be free
You see you don't have to live like a refugee"

--Tom Petty, 1979

--Dave Wilton
  dave at wilton.net
  http://www.wilton.net